The present invention relates to the field of makeup accessories, and more precisely to a device for packaging and applying makeup such as mascara.
Numerous packaging and applicator devices have been proposed comprising a rigid tubular body open at one end, containing the makeup, and an applicator suitable for being received in the body, comprising a stalk provided at one end with an element for applying makeup and secured at its other end to a handle which simultaneously constitutes a cap suitable for screw engagement on the body to close the opening thereof in which the applicator is engaged. A throat is formed in the body to wring out the applicator while the applicator is being withdrawn.
The makeup inside the body is in the form of an elongate block with an axial recess that may pass right through or that may have an end wall, and the applicator element penetrates into the recess. Because of the recess, the quantity of mascara contained in the body is small compared with the inside volume of the body. Furthermore, a non-negligible fraction of the makeup is unused since the mascara tends to remain stuck to the side walls or the end wall of the body and cannot be picked up by the applicator.
There thus exists a need for a packaging and applicator device with smaller makeup losses.
Another drawback encountered during use of known packaging and applicator devices is due to the fact that the applicator element and the stalk behave like a piston while they are moving in the rigid body. Withdrawing the applicator thus reduces the pressure inside the body, and when the applicator element comes out of the abovementioned throat a disagreeable popping noise is made by the sudden return of atmospheric pressure into the inside of the body.
When the makeup is fluid, the fit between the throat and the stalk of the applicator is close so as to wipe the stalk. This avoids leaving makeup on the stalk which might otherwise run towards the cap while the applicator is in use, and thus clog its threads. This close fit contributes to increasing suction during withdrawal of the applicator and to making the popping noise louder. In addition, when the applicator is withdrawn, the mascara wiped off the stalk builds up at the periphery of the throat and forms a mass which is sprayed by the Venturi effect onto the applicator element as it comes out from the throat and air rushes suddenly into the rigid body. Such spraying of mascara at the end of the applicator element is naturally inconvenient for the user and gives rise to makeup being lost.
Publication WO 95/11839 describes a device comprising a rigid tubular body open at one end and having an inside space suitable for containing the makeup, and an applicator suitable for being received in said body, the applicator including a stalk provided at one end with a makeup applicator element and secured at its other end to a handle that simultaneously constitutes a cap suitable for closing the opening of the body in which the applicator element is engaged, a throat also being formed in said body for wringing out the applicator element while the applicator is being withdrawn. That applicator device includes an elastically deformable flexible bag defining said inside space and capable of shrinking gradually as the quantity of makeup contained in the bag decreases.
The throat is constituted by a valve which isolates the inside of the bag in sealed manner after the applicator has been withdrawn.
Such a device runs the risk of damaging the applicator element, either as it passes through the valve, or else by being pressed against the walls of the bag once the bag has contracted after a certain amount of makeup has been removed.
In that device, in order to limit the extent to which the walls of the bag press against one another as the bag empties, attempts are made to enclose the bag in sealed manner inside the rigid body so as to set up suction outside the bag as the volume of the bag decreases.
An object of the present invention is to provide a novel packaging and applicator device that remedies the above-mentioned drawbacks.
The device is of the type comprising a device for packaging and applying makeup, the device comprising a rigid elongate tubular body open at one end and having an inside space suitable for containing said makeup, and an applicator suitable for being received in said body, the applicator including a stalk provided at one end with a makeup applicator element and secured at its other end to a handle that simultaneously constitutes a cap suitable for closing the opening of the body in which the applicator element is engaged, a throat being formed in said body for wringing out the applicator element while the applicator is being withdrawn, the device further including a moving wall defining said inside space at least in part and capable of moving in response to a change of pressure in said space caused by the applicator being withdrawn.
In characteristic manner, while the device is in use, said moving wall is subjected on the outside to atmospheric pressure.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, said inside space communicates with the outside through said throat after the applicator element has been withdrawn.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, said moving wall is suitable for moving during return of the applicator to avoid pressure increasing in said inside space.
In an embodiment of the invention, said moving wall is constituted by a flexible bag.
Advantageously, a space is provided between the outside surface of the flexible bag and the inside surface of the body to allow the bag to expand during return of the applicator.
In another embodiment of the invention, said moving wall is constituted by a piston slidably mounted in said body.
In another variant of the invention, said moving wall is constituted by a deformable end wall fixed to the end of the rigid body remote from the applicator-insertion opening.